5+ Best Print On Demand Companies For 2023

The print-on-demand (POD) industry is expanding rapidly, and experts predict that this custom t-shirt production business will be worth $10 billion by 2025.

That kind of growth means there are more opportunities than ever to create your products and sell them worldwide.

While this is fantastic news for sellers, it can also be overwhelming if you’re new to selling online.

To help you navigate this massive industry, we’ve gathered a list of the best print-on-demand companies for 2023.

You’ll be able to review information about how each one works so you can choose which services are perfect for your needs.

An Overview of Print-on-Demand Companies

The POD process is also known as digital printing or digital manufacturing.

It’s an ideal way to get your products made without having to invest in inventory or the expensive equipment required to produce them.

Let’s break down the basics of POD for you.

What is a Print-on-Demand Company?

Print-on-demand, or POD, is a manufacturing process that allows for small batches of products to be made on demand.

This is ideal for sellers with seasonal businesses or sellers who want to offer unique products.

Print on demand is a manufacturing process in which, rather than printing an entire run of something in one go, you print a single item when it’s requested.

This can be done with any digital file—from a book to a t-shirt.

Many websites offer print-on-demand services for their customers.

This means that you could upload your design and have it made into physical products that could be shipped anywhere in the world.

Is a Print-on-Demand Company Profitable?

Print-on-demand companies are highly profitable because they have low overhead, low inventory, and high margins.

They also offer customers a wide variety of products at competitive prices.

The other important factor that makes print-on-demand companies profitable is the fact that they don’t have any stores or warehouses to keep their products in.

They can even start selling their products right away after printing them, which means there isn’t any storage involved in this process as well is no need for a retail space either!

What is a Good Margin For Print On Demand?

A margin is the difference between your revenue and your cost of goods.

Profit is what’s left over after you’ve paid for all of your expenses and fixed costs, but it’s not necessarily the same thing as margin.

Print-on-demand companies have very high margins because they don’t have any inventory to store.

The products are printed only after an order has been placed, which means there is no storage cost involved in this process either.

This ensures that you get to keep all of your profit instead of losing some of it due to storage costs.

The average profit margin for print-on-demand companies is between 20% and 30%.

This means that for every $100 of revenue, you will be able to keep between $20 and $30 as profit.

The Best Print On Demand Companies For 2023

With so many print-on-demand companies out there, it can be difficult to choose the right one.

We have compiled a list of some of the best print-on-demand companies and reviewed them for you.

The list includes companies like Printful, CustomCat, Sellfy, and more.

1. Printify

Printify is another great resource for printing t-shirts, hats, and other apparel items.

It connects you with hundreds of different suppliers so you can find the perfect one for your needs.

Printify offers over 600 products—including organic cotton T-shirts, baby onesies made from 100% bamboo fabric, and more!

The company’s customer service department is available 24/7 via chat or email if you ever need help with anything.

Our Rating: 4.6

Best For:

Printify is best for full automation for beginning businesses.

Notable Features

• Creative: Printful offers a range of additional services, such as photography and video production.
• Printing: The company offers many printing options, including sublimation and direct-to-garment.
• Branding:
•  Add your logo to the inside label of clothes, print it on packages and branded receipts—all for a custom branded experience.

Pros

• The more you print, the bigger your savings.
  Enterprise Premium members get access to new features before Standard and Basic customers do.
• Printify allows users to work with several POD suppliers.
  Dropshipping and warehouse fulfillment mean that you can send products to one of their warehouses, even ones they don’t print for you.
  They will handle fulfillment from there.
• They can set up your eCommerce store for you. Choose between several platforms like Wix, Shopify, and BigCommerce (or move an existing one to their platform).
  Provide images of the products that you sell and print-ready logos.
• Offers a wider variety of products at lower prices, so you’ll have higher profit margins.
• The free forever plan gives you up to five stores and unlimited product designs, which may be enough for small businesses.
  The only charge is per product, not a monthly subscription fee—so the initial investment is minimal.

Cons

• The storage fee for inventory volume increases the monthly cost.
  You’re charged by cubic foot and how many units you keep in your unit.
• You should research the quality of any printing product you purchase.
  Just because a company charges less for their products does not mean that they offer good value—it might mean just the opposite.
• Flat rate shipping is available for all orders.
  However, if you opt to upgrade your account and use the Printify Shipping Calculator, you might find that express shipping costs less than the flat rate.

Is Printify Hard To Use?

Although Printify can be a bit tricky to learn at first, they offer support via email ([email protected]) and through an online form.

Although they don’t offer phone support, they have a wealth of information in their Help Center.

With 24/7 support and live chat features, there’s always assistance close by.

Pricing & Plans:

Free to $24.99/month

Our Take:

Printify makes starting your own business easy.

The large variety of products available lets you start small and grow as needed, rather than investing all your money at once.

You can launch several stores at once, each offering a different niche product for free.

We like how they automatically handle fulfillment, so if one vendor is out of the item you want to buy, they switch to another supplier.

Before offering a product in your shop, make sure you order one with an image printed on it to check the quality of both printing and product.

2. Printful

Printful is a print-on-demand company that allows you to create your products.

You can make shirts, mugs, phone cases, and more through their platform.

They offer an easy-to-use design tool that allows you to create your products in minutes.

The company makes it easy to get started and they offer a wide range of products.

They also have a large network of manufacturers, which means you can get your products made quickly.

Our Rating: 4.5

Best For:

Printful is best for artists or graphic designers ready to sell their work.

Notable Features

• Templates: Customizable templates for your products can be easily created with their software.
• Fulfillment: A wide variety of brands and products are available with fulfillment centers in California, North Carolina, Texas, Mexico, and Canada.
• Integrations: It works with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Wix.
  Be aware that there may be additional costs associated with partnering with these other businesses.

Pros

• A simple, intuitive design that makes it easy to find what you’re looking for.
• The company offers great customer service.
• It doesn’t have to connect to an online store to start.
  So you need to manually go in and place orders, but as the business grows you’ll want to automate this process.
• Printful can set up your store for you.
  Or you can customize it however you’d like on your own.
• This mockup generator lets you choose a specific product and color, then drag and drop your design onto it.
  It’s a useful tool that prevents bad designs by letting them tell you if the image is low resolution.

Cons

• To get in front of customers, you need a storefront.
• If you want to switch from Shopify to Printful, there is a learning curve for understanding new design features and product migration.
• If you pay for Printful Pro, they let you choose where your product is shipped from and how long it will take to arrive.
  Otherwise, the company chooses those things for you.

Is Printful Hard To Use?

Printful is a bit challenging to use because of its many features and integrations.

However, once you figure out how the platform works—and what products work best for your business—it can be quite powerful.

If you prefer phone support or need help outside of business hours, Live Chat and the Help Center will have to suffice.

Pricing & Plans:

Free to $49/month

Our Take:

You can launch your entire printing and eCommerce business using Printful’s single platform—we love that there are no minimum order requirements, and inventory management is simple.

Compared with some of the other platforms on our list, their product selection is relatively small.

They focus mainly on t-shirts and accessories.

Unfortunately, some of the products they offer—such as prints and canvases—don’t ship worldwide.

Their pricing doesn’t include shipping or taxes.

3. CustomCat

CustomCat is a print-on-demand company that’s popular for its high-quality products and competitive prices.

The company offers a wide selection of products available to choose from, including t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, posters, and more.

It’s also easy to use if you want to create your designs or import an existing design from another platform like Etsy or Shopify.

Our Rating: 4.5

Best For:

CustomCat makes it easy to find printable products that are unavailable anywhere else.

Notable Features

• Products: The company provides customers with access to hundreds of unique printable products, including apparel, accessories, and home decor.
• Printing technologies: CustomCat offers a variety of printing technologies, including digital printing, direct-to-garment technology, sublimation, and embroidery.
• Customization: Designs can be customized by your customers, including choosing their colors and fonts. They may also add text to some of the items.

Pros

• They offer discounts on the items if you sign up for $30/month and they have no monthly fee.
  You only pay for the items you order.
• Individual items are less expensive than other suppliers, so this makes them a great choice if you’re looking for a quality product at an affordable price.
• They have a faster turnaround of printed products than others, which is beneficial if time is important in your business.
• CustomCat offers marketing tools like upsells and captures customer data so that you can reach out to them again in the future with new offerings or promotions.
• They have live online and in-person training available for their customers as well.

Cons

• CustomCat does not offer any extra design or branding support.
  That means you’ll have to do the designing yourself and make sure it’s exactly how you want it before submitting it to CustomCat.
• CustomCat doesn’t offer warehouse and fulfillment options.
  If their particular vendor is out of an item, you can’t switch vendors to get that item—you just have to wait for them to restock it.
• Orders placed outside the US can take up to 12 weeks (or more) to ship out—which is much longer than most other companies in this industry offer.

Is CustomCat Hard To Use?

CustomCat is easy to use; the helpful mockup generator helps you envision what your final product will look like.

Pricing & Plans:

Free to $30/month

Our Take:

They don’t offer design services, so you will need to hire someone if graphic design isn’t your strong suit.

CustomCat can be integrated with big-name eCommerce platforms, like WooCommerce and Shopify.

Setting up your online shopping experience on a different platform may require hiring a developer to get it functioning properly.

For those just beginning to sell online, CustomCat is a great option because it works alongside Etsy and doesn’t require setting up an eCommerce website.

4. JetPrint 

JetPrint combines exceptional customer service with an intuitive interface, making it easy to navigate even for the least tech-savvy users.

JetPrint provides top-notch products, from paper to wearables, and makes it easy for customers to get what they want, exactly how they want it.

Our Rating: 4.8

Best For:

Product diversity and availability.

Notable Features

• Over 200 products are available. JetPrint has an entire host of products users can use to bring their printing dreams to life.
• Self-manufacturing. Since there’s no third party that applies the design to the products, orders get completed a lot faster and quality is guaranteed.
  JetPrint boasts a three-day production turnaround with a seven-day delivery guarantee.
• Has eCommerce integration capabilities. If you want to use Shopify or WooCommerce, you can add “buy now” buttons to your products that will link to the buyer to check out via JetPrint.

Pros

• Live customer service is available via phone or chat.
• The simplistic design is perfect for design newbies.
• A design mock-up is provided so you can see your product before officially committing to get it printed.
• Shipping rates are calculated based on each user rather than an average of all users.

Cons

• JetPrint is best for beginners.
  More advanced designers may not like the lack of ability they have to design on this platform.
  JetPrint relies on modifications that can be made to already existing designs rather than from-scratch creating.
• The cost to customize can quickly become prohibitive if you’re already making a small profit on your work.
  You’re allowed to make 200 free designs, however, the price quickly goes up from there.
  If you are planning on making a large profit off of your designs, you’re better off using another platform.

Is JetPrint hard to use?

No, JetPrint is quite easy to use.

There are lots of tools and help available to you if you struggle with using the interface.

Support is readily available 24/7.

Pricing & Plans:

You’re charged by the number of products you order rather than a flat monthly cost.

Our Take:

If you are new to the world of customized products, or if you’re just interested in getting a few products for an event or a gift, then JetPrint is the way to go.

There are not a lot of individualistic creative opportunities, but there are tons of design templates you can choose from and modify.

5. Sellfy

Sellfy helps business owners sell digital, print-on-demand products and subscriptions.

Sellfy’s platform provides sellers with a suite of tools that help them create their store and manage sales.

The platform also offers a marketplace where products can be listed and sold to customers around the world.

Our Rating: 5.0

Best For:

Sellfy is best for businesses offering digital assets in a boutique setting.

Notable Features

• No software needed: An all-in-one platform that can be set up for free and takes only minutes to integrate into an existing website.
• You can also add “buy now” buttons on your website that link to this store.
  If you don’t already have a website, use Sellfy as your main domain.
• Drag-and-drop editor: The five pre-designed templates make it easy to create a landing page and a store that matches your brand.
  Change font sizes and styles, customize button colors, upload your logo—and then tweak the design until you’re satisfied with how everything looks onscreen.
• Subscription services: You can offer subscription services directly on your website by using their built-in tools.
  While Shopify offers subscriptions, you have to pay more for a third-party app if you want to install it on your site and handle that part of the business.

Pros:

• No coding skills are required to set up this software.
  It works right out of the box.
  Don’t worry about maintaining your platform, like with WooCommerce.
  You can just set it up once and let it run autonomously!
• There are no transaction fees, and the pricing structure is tiered by how much sales volume you do per year.
  For a monthly fee of $29, you can save 34% if you pay for the year in advance.
• This software suits your needs if you have a limited budget for building an online store.
• With every page, you’ll have access to SEO tools that will help your business gain more organic views on Google searches.
• Email automation and POD integration make email marketing simpler by using systems you are already familiar with.

Cons:

• The platform isn’t developer-friendly.
  Developers won’t like that they can’t change the source code; this means you don’t have much control over the look and feel of your store—and customization is limited to a few basic options only.
• Sellfy does not offer design or warehousing services.
  You will need to hire someone for design and keep best sellers in stock yourself.
• The free plan allows you to sell only 10 different physical products, so if you want to sell more than that—or digital goods like e-books or mp3s—you’ll need the starter plan, which costs $29/month.

Is Sellfy Hard To Use?

Sellfy is easy to use.

With Sellfy, there’s no need for you to install any software on your computer—you can get started right away with an internet connection!

Pricing & Plans:

Free to $119/month

Our Take:

If you run a small business and want to sell only a few products, then this might be the best option for you.

Choose from five different themes to create a basic store.

For those who want convenience over customization, the drag-and-drop editor is nice.

Features to Look For In A Print-on-Demand Company

When looking for a print-on-demand company, there are a few features that will help you determine which one is the best fit for your needs.

1. Printing Options

You can choose from many printing options, including laser transfer, cut and sew embroidery, and direct-to-garment.

Sublimation, 3D dye infusion, laser etching, and other options are available on many of the sites that offer POD services.

If you have a specific product you want to be printed, look for companies with a wide variety of printing options.

2. Custom Branding

Some companies allow you to upload your art files or design elements as part of their service, while others use templates that don’t allow any customization at all.

If you want more control over how your products look and feel, some POD businesses allow this feature.

However, if you’re not an artist and aren’t interested in creating original artwork or designs, then this might not be important to you—so check out what each service has available before making any decisions!

3. Inventory Availability

Inventory availability varies based on the company itself.

Typically, they have anywhere between 1 and 50+ products available at any given time when ordering through them directly, with no extra fees associated with listing items individually on platforms like Etsy or Shopify.

Be wary of hidden charges after purchasing anything related (such as shipping costs). Otherwise, everything becomes less affordable than expected!

4. eCommerce Integrations

Consider integrations carefully if you plan on selling on multiple platforms or want your inventory accessible anywhere in the world.

For some companies, this means integrating their platform with other popular online marketplaces such as Amazon or Etsy (and many more).

For others, it may just mean that they have an API for developers to use or even a store that allows users to sell products alongside them.

Retaining control over pricing and product listings can be very useful for those who don’t set up their website.

5. Shipping

Shipping can be a huge pain for anyone who sells online.

Some platforms offer free or discounted shipping, but many places charge by weight or size of the item being shipped.

If you’re planning on selling internationally, make sure that they offer international shipping options as well.

If you want to avoid fees, make sure that your customers get their products as quickly as possible—and don’t mind waiting a few extra days for shipping—then it might be best to find an online marketplace with reliable international delivery options.

On some online marketplaces, sellers can choose their shipping methods or even set up their shipping departments.

This can be a great option for businesses that want to expand their customer reach or have an existing shipping operation and would like to integrate it with new software.

6. Customer Support

Customer support is another factor that you should consider when choosing an online marketplace.

Many platforms offer support in the form of a ticketing system or live chat, but some also have phone lines or even a call center where sellers can get help from experts.

Having access to customer support makes it easier for sellers to handle issues with their customers and allows them to focus more on growing their business.

Redbubble

Redbubble is a popular print-on-demand service that specializes in art prints, apparel, and accessories.

It’s an international company based out of Australia with offices in both the United States and Europe.

The site offers over 200 products for artists to create their designs on, including t-shirts, hoodies, wall art like canvas paintings or posters (both digital and physical), phone cases, and tech accessories such as laptop skins.

With Redbubble’s wide range of options and products, it’s easy to see why the site has become so popular.

It gives you a chance to create something that’s truly yours while also offering a variety of different options for what type of product you want to make.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are some questions people typically ask when looking for the right print-on-demand company for them.

Final Thoughts

In this article, we explored the benefits and drawbacks of Print On Demand (POD) companies.

We hope that you’ve learned about PODs and their possible applications for your business.

If you’re still not sure which one is right for them, don’t worry!

We recommend starting with one of our top picks above and then making a decision based on your specific needs and goals.